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Tu says entrance exams will stay until at least 2009

High-school entrance exams will continue until at least July 2009, Minister of Education Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝) said yesterday.

Tu was speaking during a press conference on the ministry's plans for a new 12-year compulsory education system. The new system, which was announced last Tuesday by Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) in the Legislative Yuan, has provoked heated debate.

"We will spend a year soliciting opinions from all parties and establish a consensus on new mechanisms for admission and the boundaries of school districts before implementing the 12-year compulsory education plan in 2009," Tu said.

The minister also urged parents and junior-high-school students not to be alarmed and added that the ministry will formulate a complete and comprehensive plan for the new system.

A position paper released at the press conference confirmed that the Basic Competence Test and other admission mechanisms would continue until the summer of 2009.

The ministry will also increase funding to improve the quality of senior high schools and vocational schools so that the notion of so-called "elite senior high schools" will be phased out, the paper added.

Tu said the ministry would make a special report on the 12-year compulsory education plan in the weekly Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. The report will include budgetary details such as increased subsidies for less-privileged students and proposals for exam-free entrance for certain students to study specific courses, Tu said.

"After receiving our report, Premier Su will make a clear decision in this regard and I am sure that we will make a strong investment in education," he added.

Tu said that school districts under the new education plan would be a lot bigger than they are now and that it would no longer be necessary for parents to move so that their children could attend "elite high schools."

Earlier yesterday, members of the National Education Reform Association invited parent groups to discuss the new education plan. Attendants said the plan should not be a product of politics, nor should it be implemented as a "favor" granted by the government or any political party.

Instead, attendants said the plan should be driven by the private sector and endorsed by the government. They said this would make the system sustainable, regardless of which party ruled the country.

"Some say that Premier Su announced this education plan to promote his presidential candidacy ahead of the Democratic Progressive Party's primary. We are really worried that this might be his motivation, because it could cause a good policy to fail," said Chen Hong-chien (陳宏堅), a member of a Taipei County parents' association.
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